The Senate this week seems closer than ever to approving a repeal of the widely opposed 1099 language in last year's healthcare law, with Democrats and Republicans prepared to support nearly identical repeal language.

Several Democrats opposed this language in a vote last November, although it still received 61 votes and only failed because a two-thirds vote was required. It was also more popular than Democratic language that did not include any offset.

This time around, Senate Democrats are putting up a 1099 repeal amendment as an alternative to a Republican proposal to tack a healthcare repeal amendment onto the FAA bill.

An aide to Johanns said today it was still unclear this evening whether the Senate will be able to vote on both proposals on the floor this week. However, he also said that Johanns never intended to expose SSA to cuts, a sign that Johanns could support the Stabenow language. He also added that if given the choice between repealing 1099 and not repealing it, Johanns would vote to repeal it.

President Obama also supports repealing the provision, something he reiterated in his State of the Union address last week.